SEO Isn’t Just About Keywords: A Broader Approach to Competing Online

I recently came across a great post on LinkedIn by Liam Fallen about using Ahrefs Content Changes to track your competitors' updates and gain insights into their strategies. Liam is excellent at SEO within his spaces, and this post is a great snippet of his expertise. It highlights the power of knowing what your competitors are doing and how you can leverage it to improve your strategy. But as good as Liam's post is, there’s more to SEO than just keeping tabs on competitors and injecting keywords into your website.

This example of Liam's content marketing is a perfect case study for how content should work. He made a post. I engaged with it because I agree with parts of it—but not entirely—and now I’m referencing Liam here. This is organic marketing at its finest. Your content should spark discussions, prompt reactions, and build your authority in the space.

Another example of content marketing done right is this blog: Is Google Merchant Killing Your SEO? SRSLTID Could Be the Culprit. That post generated five clients who asked me to help fix the issue. I didn’t do any keyword research for the blog; I wanted to help people navigate a Google-created problem. The post resonated with the right audience by focusing on e-commerce owners and speaking to them—not Google.

If you're serious about climbing the search engine rankings, focusing on more than keywords is crucial. Your website’s performance, the buzz around it, and the quality of mentions it receives all play a massive role in SEO success. Here’s my take on where Liam’s post fits into the bigger picture and how to expand on it.

Why Performance Matters More Than Just Keywords

First and foremost, your website needs to perform at its best. This isn’t just about having the right keywords sprinkled across your pages. It’s about:

1. Speed and usability: Is your website fast and user-friendly? If not, visitors will leave before they’ve even had a chance to engage with your content.

2. Content that delivers value: Does your website answer the questions people are asking? Is it engaging, insightful, and well-structured?

3. Technical SEO: Are your pages optimised for mobile? Do you have a proper site structure with clean URLs and working links?

4. It is a never-ending, consistently winning list

Google doesn’t just look at keywords. It measures how well your website serves users, which is why performance is foundational to SEO.

Promotion: The SEO Ingredient That’s Often Overlooked

Once your website is in top shape, the next step is promotion. And here’s where I think Liam’s post could be expanded upon. Tracking your competitors' strategies is helpful, but it’s not enough. You must actively promote your website to ensure people are discussing it. Here are some ideas:

• Build relationships with bloggers and journalists: If you see a competitor mentioned on a website, contact the site and ask if they’ll consider mentioning you. Offer something valuable—an exclusive story, a unique product, or an expert quote.

• Engage on social media: Share your content and engage with your audience regularly. The more people talk about you, the more signals Google sees that your website is relevant.

• Collaborate with influencers or industry leaders: This doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Sometimes, a well-placed mention by the right person can drive traffic and improve your visibility.

Beyond Ahrefs: Affordable Tools for Monitoring and Inspiration

Ahrefs is a fantastic tool, and Liam’s suggestion to use it to monitor competitors is spot on. However, be honest: Ahrefs can be pricey, especially for small businesses or startups. That doesn’t mean you’re out of options. There is plenty of budget-friendly (and even free) alternatives that can help you achieve similar goals:

1. Visualping: My personal favourite and one I’ve used for years. It’s brilliant for getting instant alerts whenever a competitor’s website changes. You'll know about it immediately whether it’s a new blog post, product launch, or pricing update.

2. Google Alerts: A classic tool that’s still incredibly effective. Set up alerts for mentions of your competitors, and you’ll get notified whenever they’re mentioned online. This is a great way to discover potential backlink opportunities or marketing ideas.

3. Distill.io: Free and paid plans are available to monitor specific webpage changes.

4. changedetection.io: An open-source and free tool for tracking text changes on web pages. It’s simple and gets the job done.

5. Sken.io: A user-friendly visual change monitoring tool with affordable pricing plans.

6. PageCrawl.io: Great for monitoring competitor content updates at a low cost.

The Bigger Picture: SEO Is a Long Game

The key takeaway here is that SEO isn’t about one single tactic. It’s not just about injecting keywords or tracking competitors. It’s about building a strong foundation for your website, creating valuable content, promoting your brand, and staying consistent.

As Liam suggests, competitor analysis is just one piece of the puzzle. Use it as inspiration, not the entire strategy. Look at what’s working for them, and then do it better. But remember, your website’s success will ultimately come down to how well you serve your audience and how effectively you promote what you’re offering.

So, here’s my professional advice: Take the insights from Liam’s post, expand on them, and focus on the broader picture. Ensure your website performs at its best, actively promote it, and use affordable tools like Visualping and Google Alerts to stay on top of your competitors. And don’t forget: good content marketing sparks conversation. Be the one people want to reference and engage with. That’s proper organic marketing.

Your strategy, your advantage.